It’s been too long since my last blog and I am really trying not to beat myself up about it! Really, it’s silly that it’s taken me so long since I’ve got SO much in the works right now to write about! So rather than waiting for any of these things to get a blog post of their own (which is what I had been kindof doing), let’s just have a few quick updates, shall we? Yes, lets. ^.^

When last we met, I had expressed curiosity about the Soapnut Hair treatment. Since then, my supplies from Henna Sooq arrived, which happened to include said soapnuts! I followed their directions for the 100g package and got about a half gallon of the liquid.  I then pranced merrily to the food processor to whip up some lovely foam! After that, it was off to the shower where with this foam- and only this foam- I’d make my hair so silky and shiny I couldn’t believe it!

After doing a bit more research, I learned that you can use the liquid only as a shampoo, and you can use the nuts themselves for a variety of different things. Check out this link! Neat!

Of course, the soapnut treatment was also a cleansing prep before my next henna/indigo hair dye application. I used the same ratio of indigo to henna, but added some amla powder this time for cooler tones, shine, and curl. I’ll post photos soon before it changes too much, but it came out nearly black! I’m sure it will lighten as I wash it, but so far I absolutely love it!

The above photos were from a henna party that I did last week for a friend. It was oodles of fun and I didn’t even get to henna everybody there! I can’t wait for my next one.

I also can’t wait for this Saturday! I’ll be hosting a Henna Workshop at 9 Muses Studio from 1-3! I’ve never hosted a workshop before, and I don’t know that I’ll be the most scholarly instructor since I’m still learning so much about henna and the arts and culture that surrounds it, but I figure this will be a great way to jump in and share what I *do* know with people! Very exciting.

Currently I’m working on a handout and some other materials for the class. I plan on touching on some of henna’s history as well as come of the meaning in symbols from various cultures. Honestly, narrowing down the subject matter for the class is going to be tricky for me. As I’ve been gathering my sources and compiling all of this wonderful info, I just keep finding more and more fascinating info. Somehow I always seem to fall in love with such expansive topics with so many different facets!

SO. Those of you that know me are aware that I’m a tad “self-indulgent” (in the best possible way, of course ^.~). I totally love finding new ways to pamper myself.  The more simple, luxurious ways to make yourself feel nurtured, pampered, and gorgeous, the better- right? Right. After all, taking some time to really pay attention to making yourself feel lovely is REALLY important- but that’s a rant for another day. ^.^

Lately I’ve been curious about ways to really indulge my hair. A while ago I started using henna and indigo to color my hair. While I am quite happy with the results so far, I’m still craving some kind of deep cleanse/condition ritual that will help my hair feel silky, or help with volume and curl, etc. Since I’ve started using henna on my hair, it’s gone from dry to greasy and oily, back to dry….. I think it’s started to level out (I also think I need to try a new shampoo). I also feel like I’m shedding quite a bit of it since, but that may also just be that it’s darker, and getting longer, too.

So here I am, considering a little pampering hair ritual and I thought I would just ask you guys! What do you do to condition/pamper your hair? Oils? Masks? Home-made conditioner? Mayo? What?  Also: Has anyone out there ever used Soapnuts? I’m thinking about trying them out before I dye my hair next (which should be soon). Here’s a video from HennaSooq (who just redid their website, btw. I haven’t gotten to spend much time there yet- but I totally love it so far!) Let me know what you think!

You know, I’m not quite sure where this henna thing is going to take me. But I must say, if I had a choice, I’d love to grow my henna business doing private appointments for people. I had a lovely client this morning who came over to get some work done on her hands for a yoga workshop that she’s going to be teaching and it’s just so nice to sit with people and spend a bit of time with them. I love talking to them about henna, and hearing about their lives and why they’re interested in it. My favorite part, though, is helping someone leave feeling even more beautiful than when they came in. Having people really love their art is satisfying for me on a deep emotional and even spiritual level. I just love it.

I also love my new henna paste. Yesterday my shipment of the 2011 summer crop of Jamila powder came in from Henna Sooq. I mixed some up right away so that i could use it this morning. NO CLOGS! I always forget how smooth and easy good paste just flows. It might as well just do everything itself! I can’t wait to see how dark these stains get… and of course, fresh henna just smells SOOOO good.

Here are a few of photos from my past couple of private appointments.

One of the foot designs that I did for my first private client at Yoga Body & Balance. I’m hoping she’s a return customer. She’s oodles of fun to work on. I can’t wait to do some henna for her with my new Jamila paste. The paste used here was what I got at the local Arabic grocery, which clogged *constantly*. But the color looked lovely, so it wasn’t a total bust.

Both feet! We were going for symmetry… not too bad!

One of the hand pieces that I did yesterday morning. Again, such a lovely lady to work with! And I couldn’t have been happier about the way my paste turned out. Such great detail! yay!

And a peacock on the other hand! Love it Love it!

Usually I’m a fan of the Jamila henna powder that I get from Henna Caravan. After reading Mehndi by Loretta Roome, I took Loretta’s suggestion and bought some paste at the Indian grocery store. It sat in my freezer a while before I got the chance to mix it up, but I was finally able to give it a test run. Check it out!

I’ve been trying to get better about mixing smaller batches of henna more often so that I can make sure that the paste is fresh as possible. So I mixed up half of the box (50g) following the recipe suggested by Henna Sooq.

I mixed up the paste on Monday night and was finally able to use it last night. I’m going to need to add more lemon juice to the paste before I make another cone. I’m also going to try running it through a stocking to break up clumps. I got all the way through a design on my foot with fairly good, smooth lines. The piece on my hand, however, is quite a bit bolder than I had wanted it to be since the cone kept clogging up on me.

Here’s a snapshot of the doodle I did on my hand after I scraped the paste off this morning.

Its been about 7 hours since I took the above picture and the paste has already darkened to a good orange-brown color (pardon the lighting).

Hopefully I will get to play around some more in the next couple of days. I’ll keep you posted!